why do we buy litres of fuel but calculate MPG

[djad1200]

Title says it all.

[funkyrobot]

No it doesn't. It says 'why do we buy litres of fuel but calculate MPG'.

[hondafanatic]

funkyrobot said:

No it doesn't. It says 'why do we buy litres of fuel but calculate MPG'.

Wow! That made me laugh way toooooo much. Think I'll stick to decaf for the rest of the day.

[djad1200]

Sorry about that

The title asks it all. But without a question mark that I think you might have noticed.

So the question is. Why do we buy litres of fuel but calculate how good a cars efficiency is by MPG ???

[jjones]

because most of us have always calculated MPG from the time before pumps were switched to litres.

[greygoose]

The garages ran out of space on the signs for the price in gallons and it seemed cheaper to put the price per litre up instead.

[djad1200]

greygoose said:

The garages ran out of space on the signs for the price in gallons and it seemed cheaper to put the price per litre up instead.

If this is the case then im sure in the next few years petrol will be sold in 100ml amounts then

[hondafanatic]

djad1200 said:

Sorry about that

The title asks it all. But without a question mark that I think you might have noticed.

So the question is. Why do we buy litres of fuel but calculate how good a cars efficiency is by MPG ???

I've had this conversation with friends...it's odd but when I see efficiency in km/ltr or even mile/ltr I have no idea what is good or not. And as my car doesn't have an MPG trip computer thingy, I'm forced to get my calculator out to get my MPG - then I usually weep a little.

[Alex]

Because l/100km makes no fking sense to anybody.

[silverfoxcc]

Because we are British and refuse to use forieign distances!!

[greygoose]

djad1200 said:

greygoose said:

The garages ran out of space on the signs for the price in gallons and it seemed cheaper to put the price per litre up instead.

If this is the case then im sure in the next few years petrol will be sold in 100ml amounts then

It'll probably still be cheaper than the bottles of water in the forecourt shop!

[Matt UK]

Good question.

I'd rather buy petrol in gallons that have to work out my fuel consumption in litres per 100kms or whatever the Euros get up to.

On the plus side though, in this day and age of iphone apps and instant answers, there are a whole generation of us who drive off from forecourts and use our grey matter to do complex mental arithmetic involving the number 4.545 for the first 5 mins of the journey!

[djad1200]

hondafanatic said:

I've had this conversation with friends...it's odd but when I see efficiency in km/ltr or even mile/ltr I have no idea what is good or not. And as my car doesn't have an MPG trip computer thingy, I'm forced to get my calculator out to get my MPG - then I usually weep a little.

Ok just remember that 8km/l is about 22mpg
And 12km/l is roughly 35mpg

After that anything else is usually in between

[Alex]

hondafanatic said:

I've had this conversation with friends...it's odd but when I see efficiency in km/ltr or even mile/ltr I have no idea what is good or not. And as my car doesn't have an MPG trip computer thingy, I'm forced to get my calculator out to get my MPG - then I usually weep a little.

Our Jeep has a trip computer, but annoyingly, if you set it to MPG it also changes the temperature on the air-con to °F which I want in °C.

[DanDC5]

I don't buy litres of fuel, I buy £20,£30,£40 etc's worth

Edited by DanDC5 on Thursday 26th July 11:14

[hondafanatic]

djad1200 said:

Ok just remember that 8km/l is about 22mpg
And 12km/l is roughly 35mpg

After that anything else is usually in between

I'll never remember that! If I try to remember that it'll push old stuff out and I'll forget something important.

[GC8]

djad1200 said:

why do we buy litres of fuel but calculate MPG

For the same reason that people listening to a weather forecast convert temperatures in celcius to farenheit - its what theyre familiar with.

Personally I do this when talking about how warm it is, but I can only consider cold in centigrade as farenheit figures are meaningless to me.

[Alex]

Matt UK said:

Good question.

I'd rather buy petrol in gallons that have to work out my fuel consumption in litres per 100kms or whatever the Euros get up to.

On the plus side though, in this day and age of iphone apps and instant answers, there are a whole generation of us who drive off from forecourts and use our grey matter to do complex mental arithmetic involving the number 4.545 for the first 5 mins of the journey!

It's easier to multiply litres by 0.22 in your head. That's what I do. Times 2, shift and add.

E.g. 47 litres times 0.2 equals 9.4, plus 0.94 equals 10.34 gallons. Which in our Jeep means about 170 miles...

[djad1200]

GC8 said:

For the same reason that people listening to a weather forecast convert temperatures in celcius to farenheit - its what theyre familiar with.

Personally I do this when talking about how warm it is, but I can only consider cold in centigrade as farenheit figures are meaningless to me.

Have you noticed that the papers do this...... When it's freezing they will write -10*C and when it's hot they will write 95*F

Now that I don't understand.

[Alex]

DanDC5 said:

I don't buy litres of fuel, I buy £20,£30,$40 etc's worth

I always fill up to the brim. I don't see the point in doing anything else.